Nike Has Filed a Lawsuit Against The Shoe Surgeon

Thesurgeon

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As the custom and bootleg market has continued to grow within the sneaker scene, Nike has responded by protecting its brand and IP via lawsuits against prominent parties ranging from Warren Lotas and John Geiger to BAPE. While the three aforementioned cases have all been settled, a new lawsuit has surfaced — one against The Shoe Surgeon. The suit demands $60M USD in damages — which, it notes, are “the profits the defendant generated from counterfeiting, trebled, along with attorneys’ fees” — relating to over 30 Nike trademarks.

The Shoe Surgeon specializes in selling bespoke creations often based on existing Nike silhouettes, including working with collaborators to create their own Nike designs without Nike’s approval. He’s in fact worked with the brand on occasion to craft unique pairs for Nike-sponsored athletes like LeBron James, however, “after many attempts to resolve this matter privately,” as Nike describes the situation, the Swoosh has escalated the matter to a legal one, as first reported by Sneaker Legal. Nike does not only have a problem with the usage of their brand and its designs, but that The Shoe Surgeon runs classes that teaches people how to replicate their trademarks too. Nike’s lawsuit follows less than a month after Goyard, whose signature monogrammed fabric and leather have appeared on The Shoe Surgeon’s custom sneakers, sued The Shoe Surgeon as well, alleging that the company never received its “consent” or “authorization” to use the trademarked materials, and also that there was no proof the Goyard material used was authentic.

The Shoe Surgeon did not immediately respond to a request for comment, however, Nike did share the following statement:

Our goal is to make sure consumers are not misled and have access to authentic NIKE, Inc. products that are authorized and created according to our high standards with the performance benefits they expect. It is unfortunate that after many attempts to resolve this matter privately, we’ve had to take legal action against the Shoe Surgeon for counterfeiting, mass customization and trademark infringement. In order to safeguard our brand and IP, and aligned with Nike’s commitment to protect the consumer from counterfeit Nike product, we are left with no choice but to seek a legal solution to address how the Shoe Surgeon is constructing counterfeit “Nike” footwear from scratch and selling it as officially branded product.
Further, the Shoe Surgeon is teaching others to create counterfeit “Nike” sneakers. These activities are illegal, deceive consumers and create confusion in the marketplace around source, authenticity and quality of Nike products.
We valued our relationship with the Shoe Surgeon and do not have any issues with the limited, one-of-one customization he’s been doing for us or his clients, when allowed under Nike-sponsored athletes’ contracts. In fact, we value opportunities for our athletes, consumers and partners to express themselves through their own style and creativity.

In conversation with Hypebeast, Nike’s PR team noted that the lawsuit was “unfortunate” as the brand has long worked with The Shoe Surgeon on one-off customs for its sponsored athletes, and had tried to privately resolve the matter for years, but that The Shoe Surgeon scaled up his operation while continuing to “promise” he would respect Nike’s IP rights.

Stay tuned for additional updates regarding this breaking story and review the embedded social media content below for more info.

Here it is!!!! Nike Inc. v. S2, Inc. dab THE SHOE SURGEON pic.twitter.com/WdRjcJTA15
— Sneaker & Streetwear Legal Services℠ (@SneakerLegal) July 15, 2024

What does Nike want? They want the Courts to immediately stop Surgeon from selling “counterfeit” shoes, stop his customization classes, stop using Nike intellectual property with collaborators, and they want MONEY to compensate them for the 30+ trademarks he willfully used to… pic.twitter.com/nVQHF6kM1M
— Sneaker & Streetwear Legal Services℠ (@SneakerLegal) July 15, 2024